Heart Disease

January 12, 1986|By Charlie Jean

TO TEST the role of fish oil in reducing the risk of heart disease, members of an Australian Antarctic expedition are taking half-ounce capsules of fish oil daily for six weeks. Researchers will monitor their blood pressure and levels of fatty substances that are thought to be related to bloodstream congestion. The tests are designed to assess the role of a fish oil constituent in counteracting the fat-generating effects of alcohol consumption. Heart disease affects only about 5 percent of Eskimo populations, compared with almost 50 percent of people in some industrialized nations. The suspected reason is that the Eskimo diet is high in cold-water fish.